Learn how to organize your home in just 10 simple steps. These tips on how to organize your home are simple to follow and will have you living in an organized home in no time!
So often I hear, “Oh I want to live in an organized home but I just don’t know where to start“. How to organize your home is something that, once you have a system in place, is quite easy to maintain. Today I am here to help with that. I have compiled a list of 10 home organization tips that I use to keep my home organized.
Becoming organized doesn’t just magically start overnight. Organizing takes planning, practice, and time. You’ll learn quickly how to organize your home.
Update your home with these posts:
- The Ultimate Household Chores List
- How to Organize Your Paper Clutter
- How to Declutter Every Room Quickly
Growing up around clutter
I haven’t always been an organized person. It took me a lot of trial and error to get to where I am now because, growing up, I lived in a home that was filled with clutter.
When I moved out, the cycle continued. We had our normal house stuff, our toys, the kid’s stuff, and so on and so on. The house became cluttered and every room felt smaller than it really was.
How to organize your home
The best way to organize your home is by just diving in and starting. However, that can be quite overwhelming. Getting organized takes time and I’m now I’d like to show you how I was able to organize my home and keep it that way.
Now that you have your organizing checklist let’s go through my organizing system to learn how to organize your home.
Step 1: Go through the mail.
Paper clutter is something that can creep up on you at a moment’s notice. And it usually starts in your entryway. Have an organized home by organizing your mail.
Start by putting a small system in place. Instead of grabbing the mail and putting it on the table when you walk through the door, take a few of these steps first:
- Sort the mail into 3 categories
- Bills
- Magazines and cards
- Junk
The junk mail should go to be shredded or put into the recycle bin. The magazines, cards, and other all other mail need to be placed in its designated spot. For example, magazines are placed on to the coffee table (that’s where I keep mine), cards and letters can be opened and displayed. Lastly, the bills placed at the bill station. Which actually brings me to the next quick tip.
Step 2: Start a bill station.
Organize your home by having a bill pay station. If you don’t have a spot where you place your bills I really do recommend you do this soon. Your bill station doesn’t have to be extravagant if you already have a command center you can include this there. All you need is a folder or a box to keep the bills in until you are ready to sit down and pay them.
If you pay bills with checks it could be a good idea to keep them together along with stamps. Paying your bills online you’ll want to put them next to your computer might be a good place. Once the bill is paid place the stub in the filing cabinet or some type of filing system.
Step 3: Use only one calendar.
Keep your home and yourself organized by using 1 calendar. I would feel so overwhelmed if I had to look at multiple calendars. If you are using multiple calendars you can never be sure about your schedule. Having all of your appointment in one place leads to having a more organized system.
Step 4: Start a daily to do list
Using a daily to-do list will allow you to write down some home organization chores to conquer for the day. Set up the intention of decluttering 1 area of your home or organizing one basket in your home each day.
Step 5: Start a receipt folder.
Every time you purchase an appliance, tool, or electronic is it a good idea to keep the receipt handy. You never know if it’s going to break or if the item may go on sale a few days after you purchase it.
Having a receipt folder allows you to know exactly where the receipt is if you need it. Another good tip is to staple your receipt to the manual so if it does break and is under warranty you have everything you need to bring that puppy back! Make sure to store it in your filing system to stay organized.
Step 6: Put it away.
This tip can quickly lead to your home becoming organized. Remember what your mom use to say, “when you use something and you done with it put it away”, the same concept. If you clean as you go you’ll have less clutter hanging around. Seem so simple but can be hard to stay in that mindset.
Here are a few tips to help with success:
- Have a toy basket in common areas so kids can get in the habit of putting their stuff away
- As soon as you are done make a conscious effort to remember that, that item needs to be put away
- Take pride in your home (if you have more pride in your home you will naturally want to do better)
Step 7: Apply the one in and one out rule.
This one can be a really hard one to live by. I think this actually could be the most important step to implement for an organized home. If you are removing an item when another item comes in you will not be adding extra clutter.
Step 8: Set up a password file.
With needing a password for every little thing how can you remember them all? Also, what if something happens to you and someone needs to access a file that they will need a password for?
Having a safe spot for your passwords is a very good idea. You can write them down on a piece of paper and store it in a safe spot or you can set up a file on your computer so you can have easy access to it. Just make sure someone other else knows that the file or list exists.
Step 9: Do a Monthly Purge!
One simple way to an organized home is by removing unused items. Doing a monthly purge is a great way to reduce clutter and become more organized.
Try picking a room a month to do a little purging. Start in the worst room and spend 20 minutes removing clutter from 1 area of that room. You’ll be surprised how much you can remove in just 20 minutes!
Step 10: Use Functional Organizers
We all have items that don’t have a home. Create a home for them by adding organizers to different areas around the home. Using cube storage, baskets, closet organizers, and other functional organizers will really allow you to organize your home.
I really hope you liked it and may be able to implement some of the things listed. What things do you use to help keep you organized? Did I miss something? I would love to hear from you!! Thank you so much for taking the time out to read this. Your support truly means a lot.
XX
Jenn
Great ideas on staying organized and clutter-free! I am a huge believer in what comes in, something goes out. It’s the best way to manage the things that come into the home. I always donate clothing, furniture, books, etc to places like Goodwill (and it’s tax deductible!) whenever something new comes in. Great post 🙂
Thank you so much! Yes donating is usually how I get rid of things unless it is broken then well garbage it is 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Love these! The mail kicks my butt, we get a ridiculous amount of junk mail that never seems to make to out.
Maybe instead of bring the mail in send the junk to the recycle bin before it make a lovely pile. We started doing that and it made all the difference in the world!
These are great! My home is unfortunately the worst when it comes to organization. I seriously need to figure this out. lol
Step by step. Once you organize 1 area then its done, take a break for a week or so and try another area. Rome wasn’t built in a day, well that’s what people tell me at least 🙂 Good luck!
This is wonderful! This is the year I promised myself I would get organized and I am off to a pretty good start. I like your list and plan on adding your suggestions to my current routine.
Wonderful! Be organized is great but if you aren’t it can be a little overwhelming. Step by step. Good luck!
So helpful! I always feel overwhelmed at the idea of getting everything organized, but this is an awesome and approachable list of really helpful ideas for getting started! Thanks!
Of course. Hopefully this can jump start the process.
Great ideas! I love the bill station idea. My mail piles are always a mess! Organization does NOT come naturally to me, luckily I was blessed with a good memory because if I had to rely on organization skills to get things done I would never get anywhere. It’s something that I’m going to start working on though! I’m about to turn 26 and being a mess isn’t cute anymore! lol
One step at a time. Good luck!
Love the idea of a bill station!
Wonderful!
Just in time for spring cleaning! I live in a tiny apartment so all of these tips will come in handy to me.
Yay! I am glad you thought this was useful!
A receipt folder definitely helps! Thanks for the tips!
Of course!
I really need to do all of this! Especially with spring cleaning time coming up.
xoxo, Jenny
It is a great time to start!
So many great tips. Hopefully I’m organized as I do many of your suggestions. Yay! I still feel somewhat organized at times. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like you are, great job!
Great tips! I should definitely incorporate some of these in my life..especially the bill station!
The bill station is a great thing to have. Never misplace those darn things! Thanks for reading!
These are fantastic organizational tips! One that really works for me is the one-in/one-out policy. My daughters remember this well! Every time something new comes into the home, one old thing must hit the trash or get donated. This post is great seasonal inspiration for Spring Cleaning. It’s almost that time again! 🙂
Yes, once that is implemented it really does become a great habit. It sure is and I’m ready to get started! I love it! Thanks for reading!
I read these and I think, no, no! I want to be organized, but I guess I love my clutter-and my shoes-too much, lol!
I hear ya, I love my shoe also. No one can come between me and my shoes! Lol
These are awesome tips! I definitely struggle with the mail piling up and also just having a spot to put bills in order to pay them and also file them! You’re motivating me to create an even better system for organizing all of this!
Yay! I hope I can help!!! Good luck to you!!
Great tips – I’m in the middle of my spring cleaning and your tip about somewhere for the bills is a great idea, thanks!
Of course. Good luck on the spring cleaning! Mine is coming up…
After not so organized 2015 blog expense tracking, I’m on track and better prepared for this year. These are great tips, thanks!
Glad to hear. It can be tough to stay on top of that stuff! Good luck to a more organized 2016!!
Love these tips! I have been on an organization kick since reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up! Pinning.
Oh yes that IS a good one!! Thank you so much!!
These are such useful tips! The mail and paperwork REALLY pile up so quickly at our house. Filing is the last thing I choose to do. I’d rather scrub toilets than organize my files. BUT, once I break the job down into small tasks and get it done, I feel SO awesome! Just do it. Every journey begins with a single step, right?
Bridget it really does. Sometimes breaking them into small tasks helps with not feeling so overwhelmed. Once it is done it sure does feel great! Thank you for reading!!
Oh my gosh this is one of THE BEST posts I’ve ever seen for organizing! I love the password tip. I feel like I have so many passwords and it’s so hard to remember all of them!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! Our family learned our lesson with this one when a family member was in the hospital in a coma and there were things on her computer we needed (so bills some of her bills could be paid) Now everyone of us has a special place for those because you’re right there is a password for everything…I really appreciate you taking the time to read this!
These are all great tips! I just started a receipt folder to hopefully help me manage it all!
That is wonderful! It is a great folder to have! I can’t believe how often it comes in handy! Thank you so much for reading!
Monthly goals and a daily to-do list are the best things ever. They keep you accountable and completely on track!
Love this!
xox
Krista
http://www.hundredblog.com
It sure does! My daily to do list is my security blanket. If I don’t have one made up then I’ll start walking into walls not knowing what I’m suppose to do 🙂 Thank you so much for reading!!
Great tips! Man, I need to work on my procrastination!
Maybe tomorrow LOL, just kidding. Thank you so much for reading!
This is great! I love how you talk about taking care of mail right away. I think this is huge and can be so helpful. Really great tips! Pinning.
Thank you so much Emily! Mail can creep up on you…Thank you for reading!
I like the one thing in, one thing out rule. It is one that we have set in place for our kids, but I would love to get better about that with clothes, shoes, etc.
Clothes and shoes can be hard to part with. Shoes especially for me. I like giving my closet a good purge twice a year. Thank you so much for reading!
There’s lots to think about here! Some of these I already do, but others I need to be better at like the one in, one out rule.
I know that you said no multiple calendars, but in addition to my personal calendar, I also have a family calendar on the fridge so we can all keep track of activities and appointments. In theory it helps us all to know what’s going on, and it also helps when meal planning.
Yes, I totally agree, great point. To be honest our family has the same thing. I just keep all of my appointments and daily events on my calendar but I do share those things to the family calendar so everyone knows everyone’s schedule. I guess I didn’t really think of that as as multiple calendar and more of a place to share info.
Thank you so much for reading!
This is a great post with some really helpful information. Thanks for sharing!
Of course, Hannah! Thank you so much for reading!
These are great tips! Our family couldn’t function without our one central calendar.
It is so important! Thank you so much for reading!
I really need to start a receipt file. Great Idea!!!
Thank you! Thank you for reading!
Such great timing for me to find this – I’m currently in the process of adding daily tasks to keep our house somewhat manageable. Great tips that are easy to impliment!
Of course, I am happy to help!! Thank you so much for reading!